At the close of the exhibition, yesterday, airshow organisers, Farnborough International Ltd (FIL), had confirmed the total sum of orders and commitments at the Farnborough International Airshow has reached US$201bn, beating all previous records set for the show.
The figure represents an extremely positive note for the global aerospace industry and its aircraft leasing partners.
Across the course of the five days, orders and commitments for civil jet engines reached 1600 units with a total value or US$34.5bn and over 1100 aircraft totalling US$152bn, a further US$14.5 was also achieved in service contracts all reflecting the buoyancy of the aerospace industry internationally and in the UK.
Speaking about these figures, Shaun Ormrod, chief executive for FIL said, “We are extremely pleased by these numbers, there is already an order backlog and these additional orders will keep manufacturers in business and people employed for some years to come. Great news for UK business and the economy.”
Overall, the event had been well attended with visitor numbers standing at 100,000 and strong government attendance with the Prime Minister, David Cameron opening the show.
The Meet the Buyer event proved incredibly successful this year with over 1200 meetings taking place with 30 delegate companies and UKTI Commercial Officers. The event has doubled in size compared to 2012 with over 300 companies participating in the event. The official delegations programme was also well attended with over 77 military delegations in attendance from over 59 countries including 10 delegations from the US.
The civil delegations programme has also seen strong participation with senior management from 12 organisations including HAL, Augusta Westland, Italy, Airbus and Sukhoi.
Ilyushin Finance
Amongst leasing deals transacted in the latter part of the event, Ilyushin Finance signed a deal worth $290m with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft to buy eight Superjet 100 planes, which will be flown by European carriers.
The chief of Ilyushin Finance, Alexander Rubtsov, said the order has been made on behalf of European companies, who will pay an effective interest rate of 3% to 4%.
Sukhoi's Superjet 100, which seats about 100 passengers and was first unveiled in 2007, was intended to revitalize Russia's once-mighty civil aviation industry, but has struggled to find buyers.
Earlier this week, Kazakh national airline Bek Air bought seven of the planes. Sukhoi says on its website that it has racked up a total of 179 orders for the planes.
A Japanese acquisition
Meanwhile news was released that UK-based lessor Aircraft Leasing & Management (ALM) has been bought outright by Japanese firm Fuyo General Lease (FGL).
FGL leases office equipment, industrial machinery and medical devices, as well as ships, aircraft and cars, and also offers commercial loans and other financial services.
The acquisition of ALM will expand the Tokyo firm’s aircraft leasing capabilities. ALM will continue to operate out of its office near London Gatwick and provide the same asset management, remarketing and advisory services to clients. ALM’s directors, Roy Webber and Alan Robinson, are to continue in their roles.
Hong Kong Aviation Capital pulls off $7.2bn deal
Also it was revealed that Hong Kong Aviation Capital (HKAC) signed a firm order with Airbus for 70 A320neo narrowbodies. The order is valued at $7.2bn at list prices and firms up a memorandum of understanding signed at the 2013 Paris Air Show.
The leasing company ordered 40 A320neos and 30 A321neos, and these will add to the 50 Airbus single- and twin-aisle aircraft already in its portfolio.
“The green credentials of the Neo is one of the key factors for us to choose the aircraft,” said Donal Boylan, HKAC chief executive. “In addition, the A321neo will enable operators to deliver reduced operating cost per seat, and better compete where airport slots are restricted.”
SMBC confirms $11.7bn A320 Airbus order
SMBC Aviation Capital, the Japanese aircraft leasing company, confirmed that it had signed an order for 115 single-aisle A320 Airbus planes costing $11.7bn (about ¥1.19 trillion) at list prices.
“This new order is the industry’s largest ever single firm order by a worldwide leasing company for single-aisle aircraft,” SMBC said.
SMBC will take 110 A320neo planes and five A320ceo.
SMBC chief executive Peter Barrett added: “This is a landmark order for SMBC Aviation Capital and indeed for the wider aircraft leasing industry, and I am delighted to be continuing the close and long-standing relationship that our business enjoys with Airbus.”
